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Rembetika

  • Rembetika
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    • History Pre-1923
    • History 1923-1941
    • History 1941 and on
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Glossary

aman:  An exclamation of mercy, of Turkish origin.

amane (pl. amanedes):  An improvised vocal solo.  Derived from the word “aman” which was often the word used for the improvisation.

dervisi (pl. dervisades):  In Turkish, a dervish, member of the Mevlevi sect.  In rembetika, used to denote a hash smoker.

douzeni (pl. douzenia):  Tunings used for the saz and bouzouki.

dromos (pl. dromoi or dromous):  Mode, makam.

hasiklis (pl. hasiklides):  A hash smoker

logokrisia:  Censorship.

loulas:  The water bowl of the narghile.

mange (pl. manges):  One of the many names by which members of the Greek underworld have been known.  Throughout the years since Greece’s independence, people related to these various sub-cultures have been known as  koutsouvakidhes, mortes, daidhes, manges, rembetes.  Each has been recognized by a certain mode of dress and its anti-social behavior.

makam (pl. makamlar, makami):  Mode, dromos

mavro, mavraki:  Slang for hashish

narghile (arghile, mapa):  The water pipe used in for smoking hasish.

opa, oples, ainte, yiala, yialeli, me det:  Various exclamations used as gyrismata in rembetika and smyrneika.  Some are of Turkish extraction.

rembet (pl. rembetes):  The most well-known name given a member of the Greek urban sub-culture of the early 20th century.  Originally thought to derive from the Turkish, Stathis Gauntlet has presented an analysis that throws this into doubt.

taxim (pl. taximia):  An instrumental solo, improvised, originally an introduction to a song.  It sets the mood and introduces the listener to the mode being used for the piece.  An instrumental version of an amane.

teke (pl. tekedhes):  A club where one could buy hasish and the use of a narghile in which to smoke it.

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